he who has been forgiven much, loves much

Just a couple hours ago I was sitting across across a table from a 23 year old guy who is 17 days away from graduating from a Teen Challenge Advanced Training Center. He wasn't the most well-spoken person, but he said some of the most amazing things.

"The past fourteen months have been the hardest of my life."
I looked at him in disbelief. This guy had been through some rough stuff in his life. Drugs, alcohol, violence, and abuse from a young age. Yet the Teen Challenge Center is the toughest thing he's ever done. This guy wasn't the only one to say this. In fact, the more I met with guys, the more I heard this statement. I asked him why this was so, considering his past.

He looked down at the table for a few seconds, held his hands together tightly and said, "the other stuff was definitely tough. But this is tougher because my life has been changed to its core. This is real and personal. In the past I just did whatever came along. It was easy to get in trouble. But this stuff [Teen Challenge] is really tough."

"I'm a free man."
He said it with such passion. He said it again. A little slower this time. "I'm a free man." It was almost as if he was realizing it for the first time all over again. This particular Teen Challenge Advanced Training Center is a very structured and rigorous program. There is not much freedom to do things. But through it all, he and many others have found real freedom through Christ. He talked about how is old life was bondage. He was a slave to drugs and alcohol. Now, for the first time, he was really free.

He's 23 years old and starting all over from scratch. Many at his age have graduated from college and have a general plan for the rest of their lives in order. By age 23 they have probably already landed in a great job, or they have at least taken that first step. But they also leave college strapped with school debt and addicted to alcohol. But not this guy. He's not gone to college, but he has a plan. Life is wide open for him. He can do anything he feels the Lord is directing him to do without anything to hold him back. There are absolutely no limits. Now that's freedom.

I feel more enriched for having talked to Ben. I pray for God's blessing on his life. I feel that he will do something truly great for God.